My Tempting Highlander (Highland Hearts #3) (4 page)

Mairi started the car. Her heart fell as she noticed the time on the dash. “Can you call Fiona and buy me some more time? You’re a better liar than I am.”

Lilia’s dark look effectively relayed exactly what she thought of that comment. “What am I supposed to tell her?”

“I don’t know. Be creative—but believable.”

Grudgingly, Lilia tapped the speed dial number to the third floor’s nursing station. “You owe me.”

Mairi ignored Lilia as she pulled away from the curb and headed the car back toward home. The safest place she could think of to take the unusual dog was their own garage. It was not only dry but private. If the Fates allowed her to heal the beast, he could recuperate in peace until they figured out what to do about him.

“Hi, Fiona?” Lilia wrinkled her nose at Mairi then her voice took on a decided edge, sounding as though Lilia was double-clutching her storytelling gears into
what-do-I-say-now
mode.

Mairi frowned at the un-Fiona-like deeper voice
wah-wah-wahing
out of the phone pressed to Lilia’s cheek.

Lilia’s determined expression shifted to a wide-eyed one of
oh shit
. “Uhm. Fiona’s not on shift today? This is Lilia Sinclair. I’m calling for my sister, Mairi.”

Mairi stole another glance at Lilia. The bright crimson flush creeping up Lilia’s neck triggered a sense of dread as dark as the stormy sky. Who the heck had answered the supervisor’s phone? Where was Fiona? Mairi mentally counted back the days again and her heart fell.
Crap! I figured it wrong.
Today was Fiona’s day off. Hellatious Hyacinth was floor supervisor today.

“Yes.” Lilia shook her fist then thumped Mairi’s upper arm. Hard. “Yes…I…uhm…I know. Yes.” She pulled the phone away from her ear and waggled her head from side to side at the nasally voice still yammering at high speed. Lilia propped her head in one hand as she put the phone back up to her ear. “Yes. I understand your position completely and I’m sure Mairi will too.” Lilia nodded as if the voice on the other end of the call could see her. “Yes. I’ll be sure to tell her. Thank you so much. Goodbye.” Lilia punched the off switch hard and tossed the phone into her purse. “Well, you have all the time in the world to take care of the dog now. You just got fired.”

Mairi blew out a frustrated breath. “Well, shit.” She eased the car onto the edge of the drive and punched the button to raise the garage door. She wasn’t angry with the hospital. She wasn’t surprised either. She pulled the car in as far as it would go and switched off the engine. “I’ve got no one to blame but myself. You’d think a freakin’ time runner could figure out how to be on time once in a while.”

“The only time you haven’t been late was when you beat me out of the birth canal.” Lilia shouldered open the car door and punched the button to lower the garage door. Her face brightened with an evil grin as she joined Mairi at the back of the car. “Just think, now you’ve got one less excuse for not jumping back to the past. You better get creative and come up with something else. Granny’s gonna have the edge.”

“Shut up, Lilia.” Mairi was in no mood for Lilia’s pestering. Today had started out badly and was wildly careening to epic fail status. She slowly lifted the hatch, praying nothing else would go wrong. The only thing that might remotely salvage the day was reversing what she’d done to the poor dog.
Please let him still be alive. Please let me be able to save him.
Mairi leaned over the animal and ran a shaking hand across his wet head and ears. She bowed her head and blew out a relieved breath.
Thank goodness
. The warmth of life still pulsed through his relaxed body.

Mairi directed Lilia to the space at the rear of the garage between the kitchen stairs and the ancient boiler. “I’m going to attempt to heal him here in the back of the car—just in case something goes wrong.” Mairi swallowed hard. She didn’t want to think about that, but it couldn’t be helped. Sometimes the Fates refused her healing touch. Sometimes those Mairi wished to help had come to the end of their destiny. “See if you can find Eliza’s stash of old plaids. If I’m able to stabilize him, he can finish mending on a pallet over there in the corner. It’s dry and warm here; we might actually be able to keep him a secret from Eliza—at least for a little while.

“On it.” Lilia turned and hurried up the entry steps to find the blankets.

Mairi inhaled a deep cleansing breath then slowly exhaled. She rubbed her thumbs across her fingertips in a rapid, butterfly movement.
Time to focus and build enough energy to reverse whatever damage I’ve done to this poor magnificent beast.

She pulled in another lungful of air and held it. Her slowing heartbeat pounded a dull thumping echo in her ears, effectively drowning out all other sound. Her lungs burned with the need to breathe. Mairi eased out the breath she’d been holding and closed her eyes.

A familiar ache blossomed just beneath her breastbone. A welcomed uplifting expanded within her as though her soul were stretching in need of more space. Trulie and Granny complained the healing energy burned, but Mairi loved the feeling. She embraced the familiar sensation of building pressure like an old friend. Adrenaline spiked through every fiber. Every nerve ending stung with each slow beat of her heart. Mairi smiled and deepened her breathing. She loved the burn of energy pulsing through her veins, throbbing to be released.

As the heat reached the hottest level she could bear, Mairi lifted her glowing hands and held them mere inches over the dog’s side. She had to hold on. She had to build the burn a bit longer. She wanted to surge through the canine with the biggest charge she had.

Must. Wait.
Mairi closed her eyes and leaned against the rear of the car. The strengthening wall of excruciating power vibrated through her body.
Just a bit more.
When her senses started spinning, Mairi fell forward and shoved both hands against the dog’s chest. A brilliant flash of blue white light rocked the car as the healing energy exploded. The humming ring of power crackled and popped, arcing out and gradually receding like ripples across a pond.

Mairi collapsed across the dog, one trembling finger barely stroking the long tapered muzzle beneath her hand. Without opening her eyes, she relaxed, lacing her fingers into the thick wet fur as the dog’s steady heartbeat thudded stronger against her cheek.
Thank goodness.
Today was going to be all right after all.

Ronan raked a paw across his tingling muzzle.
So many smells. Damn, but something reeks worse than the rubbish pile in the back of Cook’s kitchen
. Ronan rolled from his side to his belly and burrowed his nose deeper into the softness gathered between his paws. A familiar scent, a dangerous scent, set all alarms blaring. Immediate realization snapped his eyes wide open.
Son of a bitch!
Ronan scrambled backward until his rump hit solid wall and he couldn’t retreat any farther. There it was, looming over him. The verra monster what had rammed him with even more force than a pair of Highland stags sparring over a hind.

Power surged through Ronan’s every tendon. Renewed strength heated him like a swallow of good whisky. Thank the gods and the damnable witch. If nay for the curse of lonely immortality, the wicked monstrosity crouched silent before him would ha’ surely dragged him to the pits of its torturous hell.

Heart hammering so hard it nearly had him panting, Ronan crouched with his hindquarters touching the wall, his head lowered for battle. He bared his fangs and rumbled with a low warning growl. The gleaming demon still had bits of his fur stuck in the gaping cracks of its wide leering mouth.
Aye—this shall be a true battle.
He readied himself to attack, the rumble of his growl growing louder.

The strange beast from hell didna move.

Fearless, it is.
Ronan wet the end of his nose and sniffed in an exploring breath.
God a’mighty.
Such a strange thing. What sort of place had future Edinburgh become to house such monstrous demons?

A soft creaking whined above him. Ronan cautiously darted his gaze away from the silent monster staring him down and glanced up toward the sound. A new sweet scent caressed his senses. Ronan breathed it in.
Warm honey. Fresh-cut lavender. Woman.

Soft thuds down wooden steps and then she stepped into view. Ronan licked his chops. May the goddess bless his accursed soul. Was this truly the Lady Mairi? If so, the vision Mother Sinclair had shown him in the reflecting pool had no’ done her justice.

“You’re awake.” The smiling woman slowly knelt and extended her knuckles. “Hi there. I’m Mairi and I’m a friend. Have a sniff so you’ll know I won’t hurt you.”

Have a sniff?
Ronan swallowed hard and licked his chops again.
By all the demons of hell…is she mad?
Did she no’ fear the damage a wild wolf might do her? Ronan shifted to a sitting position and flicked an ear. Perhaps if he behaved more like the dogs that cleaned up the scraps in great hall, the Lady Mairi would remain as calm as she was now.

“Come on. It’s all right. I promise you’re safe here.” Mairi patiently kept her hand held out and waited. Her gold green eyes were filled with such compassion, Ronan’s heart double-skipped a beat.
She has no fear
. She cared not he was a wolf, but what the hell would she do when she discovered he was also a man?

“I know you might still be feeling a little sore.” Mairi settled to a cross-legged position on the floor, only a few feet from his pallet. “I’m really sorry I hit you. The roads were slick and I didn’t see you in time.”

You struck me? When?

Mairi leaned forward and lowered her voice to a soft whisper. “Just between you and me, I’ve never actually attempted to heal an animal before. I wasn’t really sure the energy would work.”

Healed him? She hadna healed him. The curse never allowed him to remain weak or injured verra long. ’Twas about the only benefit of the damned immortality. Ronan peered closer at the long slender fingers a few feet from his nose.
So soft. So delicate.
His gaze shifted to Mairi’s face. Conviction and certainty flickered in her eyes. The woman truly believed she had healed him.

A soothing touch.
An excited shiver rippled through him. Just as the prophecy said. Ronan slowly stood, eased to the edge of the pallet, then lowered himself to his haunches again. He dared not approach too quickly. The lass might show no fear now, but once she realized what he truly was…

“You’re a pretty boy. What in the world am I going to do with you?” Mairi’s inviting smile lit up her entire face. Her wet hair, dark and shimmering with highlights of red and gold, escaped the strange-looking comb holding it back and cascaded across her bare shoulders. If the woman leaned forward but a few more inches, she’d gift him with an even better view down the plunging neckline of the strange white camisole clinging to her fine shapely breasts. Ronan slurped his long tongue from one side of his mouth to the other.
Lore, what I wouldna give for a wee taste.

“Are you hungry?” Mairi leaned forward.

Aye.
Hungry he was, all right. But ’twould take a great deal more than food to sate this aching emptiness beggin’ to be filled.

Mairi rolled to all fours and inched a bit closer. “Can I pet you now? Can we be friends?”

Lore a’mighty.
Between the woman’s scent and her mouthwatering curves, she’d surely be the death of him. Ronan slowly rose and cautiously approached her. He best enjoy her presence whilst he could. Once she realized what he was, she’d fear being in the same room with him.

Mairi’s smile widened as she touched her knuckles to his nose. “There. See? Do I smell okay? Worthy of your trust?”

Did she smell okay? By the verra gods themselves, the scent of her was permanently burned into his senses. If struck blind, he’d still be able to find her no matter where she was. Ronan licked her knuckles. If he’d been in human form, he wouldha licked the rest of her. He nudged his nose into her palm and pushed his head up into her hand.

An ancient connection surged through him, electrified his core.
She is the one.
He knew it more surely than he had ever known anything in his life. He leaned his weight into her, praying she’d accept him for the hellish mix of beast and man that he was.

Mairi’s arms looped around him and pulled him to her chest. “You felt it too, didn’t you?” she whispered into his fur.

Aye, m’dear sweet lass. I felt it.
And he thanked the gods Mairi had felt it too. He swiped his tongue across the tempting bit of her throat revealed by her daring neckline.
Pure, unadulterated sweetness.
Ronan huffed out a groaning sigh. At times bein’ the wolf was no’ so bad at all.

Mairi slowly released him, easing away to stand and smile down at him.

Damn, I miss her warmth already.
A shiver stole over him, starting with a tingle at the end of his nose and rippling across him in waves down to the tip of his tail. Ronan shook himself against the unpleasant feeling. He wanted her closeness back—soon.

Starting up the steps, Mairi paused and motioned for him to follow. “Come on, boy. Let’s go to the kitchen for a bowl of water.”

Ronan couldn’t help but lick his chops at the tempting length of Mairi’s bare legs revealed by the odd short tunic she was wearing.
Lore a’mighty.
A longing whine escaped him.

Mairi crouched atop the steps and held her hand out to him. “It’s okay. Come on.”

May the gods have mercy on my accursed soul.
The woman could tempt a starving man from a feast with that honeyed voice. Ronan cautiously padded behind her up the steps, doing his best to seem as docile as a spoiled hound. He couldna believe she didna fear a wolf.

Mairi led the way into a small box of a room, bright and cold with shining surfaces that appeared to be made of stone and metal. Ronan looked about.
What an odd place.
If this was the kitchen, where were the hearths? Where were the herbs and meats that always hung from hooks along the rafters?

Food.
Ronan licked the end of his nose and sniffed again.
Aye. Food is here.
The refreshing tang of herbs. A sharp acidic cheese. Ronan’s stomach rumbled. He wouldna mind a bit of food. Ronan reared up on his hind legs and plopped his front paws on the edge of an oblong white table. Nothing but a bowl filled with fruit that looked a bit strange. Ronan pawed the bowl closer, snuffling the strange waxy apples that had no smell at all.
What the hell?

The soft weight of Mairi’s hand atop his head took his attention away from the obviously inedible fruit. She gently scolded him. “Down, please. No doggie paws on the table.” She hugged Ronan close as she slowly lowered his front feet to the floor. “And Eliza’s quite fond of her hideous wax fruit that should’ve been tossed out at least five years ago. Trust me. You really don’t want it.”

Wax fruit? What purpose does fruit serve if ye canna eat it?
Ronan leaned into Mairi’s embrace, inhaling her beguiling scent. The fake fruit was immediately forgotten.

“Aww, you’re such a sweetie,” Mairi said, working her fingers behind one of Ronan’s ears and setting off a sensation so pleasurable, Ronan had no choice but to melt into her touch and rabbit-kick a back leg.
Damnation.
The woman’s touch was delicious torture. What sensations could they both enjoy once he returned to the form of a man?

A delightful, rich giggle bubbled from her as Mairi leaned her head against his. “Apparently I’ve got the right touch.”

Och, lass. Ye’ve no idea
. Ronan lapped out his long tongue and whined.

Concern flashed across Mairi’s face. “I know you’re hungry. I’m just not sure what we’ve got in the fridge, but I’ll find something for you.”

What the hell was a
fridge
? Ronan followed Mairi across the room.
Damn, but the woman’s shapely arse sways in the finest way when she walks.

A whining groan escaped him again as Mairi yanked open the steely door of some sort of box and bent to peer closer at what appeared to be shelves made of metal. He rolled back on his haunches and licked his chops. Lore a’mighty but the woman made his mouth water with the verra wantin’ of her. The view from this particular spot could nay grow any better. Well, mayhap it could. If the lass would bend over just a bit farther, surely her wee fuzzy frock would slip a bit higher and bless him with an even better view.

Ronan’s tongue rolled out one side of his mouth and he panted. He couldna help it. The sight of Mairi’s bare legs sprouting out from the short hem of the fluffy bit of material drastically added to the heat of the room. He paced from side to side in the narrow space between the table and cupboards. His soul strained to take human form.
No. Not yet.
Ronan shuddered with the need to shift and claim this woman he’d sought for so verra long.

He trailed his gaze down the lickable curves of her shapely legs. What he wouldna give to have the silk of her beneath him. Ronan came up short and tilted his head to one side. What the hell did the woman have on her feet? Those surely had t’be the most hideous pair of slippers he’d ever seen. What sort of animal sported such black fur with stripes of white and oddly placed spots? Had the footwear been a gift from an admiring hunter? The heat of jealous rage flashed through him. He’d make short work of those damnable shoes at first opportunity.

Mairi backed out of the strange steel box with a square container in her hands. She bumped the door closed with one elbow as she slid a finger around the clear lid of the container and popped it open.

Ronan backed up a full body length and snorted.
Damnation.
Somewhere beneath a mixed aroma of overripe tomatoes, strong garlic, and putrid onions was the whang of something rotten. He’d no’ be eatin’ that muck.

“Shew.” Mairi wrinkled her nose and quickly slammed the container shut. “I didn’t think soy meatballs would turn that fast, but these are way past their prime.”

What the hell was a soy meatball? He’d never heard of a soy. Judging by the strange shape of the meat, the soy had to be some exotic bird of this time that wasna verra large. Ronan raked a paw down his muzzle. Whatever it was, it stunk and he doubted it had ever smelled much better.

Mairi walked over to a round metal cylinder and stepped on a black lever sticking out of the base of the object. The lid of the thing flew up and rattled against the wall.

Ronan scrambled backward, sliding sideways on the highly polished floor as the top of the cylinder banged the wall a second time.

“It’s okay.” Mairi dropped the entire box of the wretched soy animal’s remains into the metal container, took her foot off the lever, and flipped the lid shut. “You must not be used to being inside. This is just a trash can. It’s full of gross stuff to be thrown away.” Mairi smiled down at him as she brushed her hands together. “And don’t get into it. Karma always used to scatter the trash whenever he was mad at Trulie, but I’m trusting you to be a good boy.”

A good boy?
’Twas the second time she’d called him such. Surely, the woman jested. Why the hell would she think him a lad?

Ronan stood and shook himself from the tip of his long narrow muzzle to the end of his tail. He had to get them back to the past. He barely understood the conversations and all the strange things of the future made his head pound worse than poorly aged ale. Giant boxes, somehow filled with winter’s cold air and used to store food? And the strange contraptions were lit from within by some unholy magic. Basins armed with tubes of metal that brought forth water at the touch of a lever? Ronan shook himself again.
I dinna like this time—not one damn bit.

Mairi worked her way around the room, yanking open the small doors of the cupboards then shaking her head and banging them closed again. “We don’t have anything you’d want to eat. None of us eat meat and it looks like Eliza finished off the last of the cheese.”

None of them ate meat? By the verra gods, was that what the future had come to? Were there no beasts to hunt? What about the soy birds? Were the strange fowl so rare and elusive they had to be doled out sparingly? A groan escaped Ronan as he stretched out on the soothing coolness of the smooth floor and covered his muzzle with one paw. If he was to survive this wretched time without starving, he’d best tuck his wolf away soon and resume his human form. At least then he might find a wee bowl of parritch.